Playing the best team in the NHL with a depleted
roster isnt exactly the tailor made scenario the Sharks had hoped for
heading into their first meeting of the season with the Detroit Red Wings. The
Red Wings also had the motivation of payback for the playoff tail kicking they
received from the Sharks last spring. That motivation and rudimentary mistakes
by the Sharks youngsters was all Detroit needed to steam roll the Sharks 5-3 at
HP Pavilion on Tuesday night.

With Jason Demers, Kent Huskins and
Niklas Wallin all on the fence with injuries, the Sharks were forced to throw
five rookies into key situations. The youngsters got a lesson in what it takes
to play at the NHL level, by a lineup that knows a thing or two about hunting
as a pack.

"I just thought that the big thing is that we were able to
take advantage of their defense tonight," siad Red Wings head coach Mike
Babcock. "We knew coming in that was going to be an issue for them and we spent
some minutes in their zone."

The Red Wings struck 4:50 into the game on
the power play after Jamal Mayers was sent off for high sticking. Dan Cleary
redirected a Henrik Zetterberg pass while perched on the Sharks doorstep.
Valteri Filppula sent a rink wide pass from the left side to Zetterberg who
reciprocated with a pass to the top of the crease where Cleary easily got a
stick down for the redirect past Antero Niittymaki.

Pavel Datsyuk made
it 2-0 Detroit three minutes later by splitting two Shark defenders, then
drawing Niittymaki out before sliding a pass into a wide open net. Datsyuk made
Marc-Edouard Vlasic and rookie Justin Braun look foolish on the play by
bulldozing through the two blueliners to hang Niitymaki out to drive.

An interference penalty to Thomas Holmstrom would help the Sharks cut into the
Red Wings lead at 8:19. Dany Heatley was credited with his 12th goal of the
season when a Joe Thornton shot from the right corner deflected off his skate
and past Jimmy Howard.

The Sharks would pay the price for a Logan
Couture tripping penalty early in the 2nd period. Zetterberg swatted a
knee-high deflection past Niittymaki after a Brian Rafalski pass was tipped by
a sharks defender in the slot. Zeterberg was cruising through the zone when the
puck floated in front of him.

Benn Ferriero would draw the Sharks back
to a one-goal deficit just under two minutes later with a nice effort in front
of the Detroit goal. Jamie McGinn threw a puck on net with Ferriero parked in
front of Howard. The shot hit Howard then trickled to the left side of the
goal. With his back to the goal, Ferriero swept a backhand chance just inside
the left post for this 2nd goal in as many games.

The Red Wings sunk the dagger in the Sharks with 10.8
seconds left in the period when Patrick Eaves was credited with deflecting a
shot by Cleary past Niittymaki. The Red Wings got away with two blatant trips
in the neutral zone to gain control of the puck then converted after the Sharks
failed to clear the zone. It didnt help that San Jose also had four
youngsters on the ice in the final minute, lacking the instincts to clear the
puck as time was winding down in the period.

The inexperience of the
Sharks blueline was exposed in the 3rd period. The Red Wings seemed to roam the
Sharks zone at will. An ill-advised pass by rookie Mike Moore would end up in
the Sharks net after Datsyuk intercepted it and made a feed to Zetterberg for
another goal at 7:55.

Scott Nichol let off a little steam after he was
slashed by Niklas Kronwall. The Sharks veteran returned the favor by
introducing his stick to the back of Kronwalls calf, before dropping a
couple of shots on the Red Wing forwards chin. The extracurricular
activity would land Nichol in the box for 4 minutes.

Ryane Clowe would
deflect a meaningless goal late in the game for this 5th of the season.

"They were the better team when it was all said and done," said Sharks
head coach Todd McLellan. " They created more quality scoring chances than we
did, they forced us to turn puck a little bit more, their special teams were a
little sharper than ours were, when you add that all that up the win goes into
their column."

Game Notes:

Thorntons assist on
Heatleys goal was his 500th point in a Sharks uniform. T came on the 5th
anniversary of his acquisition from the Boston Bruins back in 2005.

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